Flaws
by RobinRocks
Summary: Ever noticed that there are NO fics about Cyborg? So have I. That's why I'm doing something about it. A oneshot insight into Cy from Robin's P.O.V. NOT RobinCyborg slash.


You know what? I have never come across a Cyborg fic anywhere, **ever**. There are plenty that _involve_ him, some more so than others, but there are never any explaining a little more about him, none that claim him to be anything more than the black guy; the… well, "cyborg".

And I don't understand why.

I **love** Cyborg. I truly, truly do. He is a brilliant character, with plenty of smart comments, but plenty of heart too. I think he's got a lot of story potential – the original Vic Stone certainly did – and I feel, probably like many others, that the "Brother Blood" story arc of Season 3 didn't do him too much justice. Simply reprising Robin's obsession with Slade did little to flesh Cyborg out – nor it did not seem to appeal the fans in the same way that the Robin/Slade/_Apprentice_ storyline did. No, I think that more could have been done with Cyborg. Sadly, in the midst of threats and rumors that _Teen Titans_ will not be continued even into a sixth season, I fear that we will never see the conclusions to many unresolved issues. The Slade-storyline, of course, needs to be finished in style; Robin and Starfire need to have at least _one_ kiss (and this you cannot deny even if you are an avid non-supporter of Rob/Star – I, personally, am indifferent to it); Batman needs to be in at least _one_ episode.

And I am afraid, therefore, that we will never see a truly brilliant Cyborg-centered episode. Most Cy-based episodes are, in my opinion, truly average. _Car Trouble_ was funny in places, but otherwise vague. _Only Human _was… like, what! A good theme, but Atlas most certainly ruined it. _Cyborg the Barbarian_ was dismal. Cyborg's big finale, _Titans East Pts I and II_, was the worst season finale ever, particularly compared to the dark, gripping Season One's _Apprentice_, or what it was followed up by; the truly **amazing** _The End_ trilogy. Some episodes are ok – I enjoyed _Deception_, _Wavelength_ and _Overdrive_ – but that still isn't enough to outweigh the somewhat-mediocre storylines Cyborg is constantly awarded.

I think that it is for this reason that Cy isn't really a very popular character. And I have never, as I said, seen a fic solely about him. I mean, there probably _are_ some, but if I have never seen one – _ever_ – there can't be all that many. So here I am now, debuting to you my first fic about my beloved Cyborg. However… I did cheat a little. Admittedly – and I know it's a _bad_ thing; an addiction, almost – I **cannot** write a fic without Robin in it. I am _incapable_ of it. Having written so many that center around him in one way or another – Robin/Raven; Robin/Starfire; Robin/Slade; just all out **Robin** doing the detective/superhero/leader thing – I am just so comfortable with writing him that I can't _not_ use him.

So I cheated. This is a short drabble about Cy… from Robin's P.O.V. You know, I don't write in first person ever, either; I don't like it. All of my other fics on here and any others I have written are all in third person. But here I am… pretending to be Robin musing about Cyborg… First time for everything…

This is NOT a Robin/Cyborg slash (seriously, do those even _exist?_ I've never seen one of those either… Has _anyone?_).

Set just after Season 3's _Titans East Pt II._

For all who love Cy as much, or _more_, than I do.

Flaws

Flaws.

No matter what he looks at, he sees the flaws in it. He would never say it, of course, but I know.

Comes with the detective territory, I guess.

What I don't know is _why_. Is he truly a perfectionist such as I? Or is it something more? Something he's not telling us; _any_ of us? Considering that Raven and I are supposed to be the dark, brooding, moody ones – as BB heartlessly put it – Cyborg certainly has his secrets. He appears so… god, I don't know. Happy-go-lucky? Always cheerful, I guess. Where I sometimes lack a smile, his grin is there in place of it. To make up for it. Just being with him can lift you up in a way that Beast Boy's jokes can't. The vibe he radiates is almost contagious.

But I can't help but wonder if the Cyborg we know – and _love_ – is the _true_ Cyborg. The real man beneath all that metal and circuitry.

Is the real Cyborg really… well, _Cyborg?_

Guess I shouldn't judge, not when I hide behind a mask and cape. But maybe, because of that, I have the most right to judge _at all_. Despite appearances, I suppose me an' Cy are the most similar too on the team. Neither of us can fly, for a start. Beneath the high-tech gadgetry we both wield, he and I are ordinary.

Only human.

I'm watching him now. He doesn't know it, of course; truthfully, I finished reading this article twenty minutes ago. But he hasn't noticed that I haven't turned the page of the paper for that exact amount of time. He and aren't alike in _that_ many ways; he doesn't notice stuff like that.

Although he is, in all fairness, glued to the Game-station. Beast Boy is sitting next to him, whining for a turn. Well, he shouldn't have busted the other handset the other day; they'd be able to play together if BB hadn't thrown the controller on the floor and stamped on it after Cy beat him at _Super Ninja Fury_.

For the fifty-second time.

Cy yelled at him for it. So did I, actually. BB stalked off to his room and didn't come back.

That was before Brother Blood attacked the Titans East's headquarters in Steel City. Cy's been ok since we locked the wannabe-headteacher up only two days ago. Normal, pretty much.

At least on the surface.

Again, I have no right to voice my opinion on the subject. Not when I… have certain _issues_ of my own to contend with.

But I understand. Brother Blood was to Cy what Slade is to me. What the Joker is to Batman. What Lex Luthor is to Superman.

A pain in the butt.

Among other things.

I know how he felt. The desperation that was gnawing away at him inside has dwelled within me too, for far too long. Now Cy can have his satisfaction, knowing that Brother Blood has been defeated.

Slade…

We should have seen it coming. Cy never talks about the accident that altered him, changing him to what he is now. Maybe it's the silence that causes the problems, maybe not, but Brother Blood's voyeurism at Cyborg's expense – the intrusion into the way Cy literally works – was not the first time Cyborg has let his… "condition" get to him.

I guess the first time was… well, the _first_ time we met the Amazing Mumbo. Another guy flouncing around _my_ city in a cape and mask was enough to keep me and the others busy; Cy was malfunctioning that day, in need of a new battery. But he didn't listen to me, of course, and I was too preoccupied with Mumbo to go chasing after him. He's not a little kid; he's older than _I_ am.

As far as we know, he ended up underground, in a world monopolized by machines; robots and cyborgs like himself. Looking at them, and then looking at _himself_, I guess that was the first time Cy truly realized he was _more_ than just a machine. Raven says there's a moral to every story, and a lesson to be learnt; guess Cy learnt that it's the stuff connected to the heart that really matters.

That wasn't the end of it, however. I know he was once an athlete, and I think the thing that cut Cy up most about being robotically-enhanced was that his muscles had now become mechanical. As far as he was concerned, 100 effort was all he had. He sure made me feel bad for opening my mouth that morning, but I didn't have time to dwell on it, because Atlas made his entrance. A loud-mouthed jerk if ever there was one, Atlas was fully robotic, and believed humans to be insuperior to him. That, of course, was why he immediately claimed BB, Raven, Star and I as his "trophies", shutting us up in cages like little toys. Indisposed as we were, it was up to Cy to save the day.

But Cy was having hang-ups again. Atlas was stronger and faster than him, and Cy couldn't beat him. At one point I was truly afraid that he was going to give up; what would have happened to us then? Not even Star could escape her prison – there was no question of our assured captivity.

It wasn't until Cy realized that it was the part of him that was still human was the part that had the strength and determination to defeat Atlas that he made an impressive comeback, finishing Atlas for good. True to his word, Atlas released us, and the evening was spent devouring pizza in Cyborg's honor.

But to Cy, those which we see as strengths are merely flaws. Flaws that he didn't have an athlete. I do not believe Cyborg to be in any way arrogant or conceited, but I feel that he truly believed that he could become perfect before whatever happened to him… _happened_.

Cracks in Cyborg's slowly-weakening façade began to show when Brother Blood first turned up. The Hive Trio – Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth – were stealing left, right and center, and this time we knew that it was certainly not Slade they were working for. A tracking device I placed on Jinx led to us to the Hive's new headquarters; we decided, rather than just bursting in firing off explosive discs and starbolts, it would be better to send in one of the team to infiltrate the new Hive Academy.

The candidate we chose, needless to say, was Cyborg. Under the guise of a student named "Stone" – who could, rather appropriately, transform his skin to solid stone – Cy signed up and became a member of the Hive Academy.

I hate to admit it, but it was very nearly a disaster. For one, Cy became too caught up in school life, having lost out on his latter years of it – plus graduation – following his accident. One of the times I called him, he was busy cramming for an exam on, of _all_ things, Theory of Mayhem – the very thing the Teen Titans are there to _stop_. He began talking about a dance and allsorts… it was official. I wanted Cy out of that school before he got too attached.

Before he turned on us.

Unfortunately… due to a request of mine, Cyborg hacked into the main database, uncovering Brother Blood's "class project". Cy's blueprints were downloaded onto the system without his knowing about it, and after we had shut Blood down that first time – after the fright Cy gave us, pretending to switch sides and _pummeling_ us for good measure – the villain used the blueprints to create hundreds of Cyborg clones. Aqualad and Bumblebee gave us a helping hand on that particular mission, helping to shut down the large-scale version of Cyborg's proton cannon Blood had built, also using the stolen blueprints.

Cy was able to put a stop to Blood's plans – while Aqualad and BB got a whole lot thinner and Raven, Star and I almost drowned – but…

It was because of a fault in the cannon. A glitch that Cy knew he could permeate.

A _flaw_.

Escaping our grasp yet again, Blood lay low during our next few cases. But like Slade with me, Blood's attention seemed to be focused on one particular team member.

In this case it was, of course, Cyborg.

Aqualad and Bumblebee had followed Blood to Steel City. Recruiting Speedy and Mas-y-Menõs, they had decided to set up shop in Steel City to keep an eye on him. Titans East was born, but they still needed a livable HQ.

Not to mention a leader.

That was obviously where Cy fitted into the picture.

Cy's one of my best friends, but sometimes there can be a little friction between us. It takes a lot to get Cy mad, but I think if anyone can piss him off, it's _me_. I know I can be bossy and hot-headed, but I can't help it, especially when I'm at the forefront of a case. Unfortunately, Cy can sometimes be resentful and unwilling to take orders from me. Maybe because he's the eldest of _all_ of us, or maybe because I just annoy him; I don't know, but Cy's position of leadership of Titans East wasn't the first time he and I have argued.

Nor was it the first time he's quit _my_ team.

I guess everything worked out ok in the end. Certainly was rocky for a while, though. It took Cyborg to show Speedy, Bumblebee and the others how to work as a real team, using strategies and team logistics that he and I have worked on in the past. Turned out that Titans East were under Blood's influence, so it was up to the original Titans to save the day under Cyborg's orders.

In the end, Cy beat Brother Blood into the ground. Blood's entire quest had merely been to discover the reason why Cyborg repeatedly failed to be manipulated by the brainwashing technique he had used on everyone else. Cut down – _literally_ – Cyborg had had no answer for him.

Until he saw that _we_ were in danger.

It all went down then. Still not sure how he did it, but Cyborg managed to reform himself and take on Blood one last time. This time he had the power to do it, and Blood was carted off within the hour.

He reconsidered accepting the position of leader, instead handing it over to Bumblebee. Secretly, I was afraid that he was going to ditch us; I know that even a little taste of leadership is a powerful thing.

But Cy's a good man, and loyal to the end. He declined the offer, reminding the offspring-team that he had his own team.

_My_ team.

And I wouldn't be without him. He's our techno whiz; our star chef. He designed and created the T-car and half of the cool stuff in my belt; he'll always touch up my R-cycle for me, even when I don't ask. He's got a good, respectful understanding of Raven; he tolerates BB's jokes where Raven and I are ready to kill him; he's always ready to have a joke with Star, or make her a sample of whatever food she curiously inquires about.

_Me?_

He's my second-in-command. In truth, I _couldn't_ be without him. I did not show my despair when he and I had that videophone conversation a few days back; it was easier to yell at him, to try and bully him into coming back.

To try and _guilt_ him into it.

Needless to say, it didn't work. Cy's the kind of guy who needs to learn his _own_ lessons. And when he does, he'll smile, admit he's wrong, and get on with life.

And continue to pick at the flaws he so clearly sees in everything. That's why he's such a great mechanic, and such a great member of the team; he sees something that's wrong, and he tries his best to fix it. Whether it's the T-car's engine, his own hard-drive or, indeed, _himself_, he sorts it out to the best of his ability.

I know it must be hard for him, but I also know that he tries, and that's all that matters. He needs the team; the team needs him.

No matter his flaws.

Nobody's perfect.

After all, he's only human.

* * *

Argh, I know it's not especially exciting. I mean, it's not really about _anything_. But… it's about Cyborg! Yay!

Actually, the more I wrote, the more interested I became in it. Cyborg is a really great character and nobody – _including_ me – uses him to his full potential.

So… I can't take you into Robin's _pants_ – as _so_ many of you would like, I'm sure – but I _can_ take you into his _head_ (could be the same thing – depends on your opinion of Robin…). I haven't written in first person for _years_… Although, truthfully, that was more a monologue/soliloquy-type of thing. Maybe I'll do it more often; I have another little one-shot idea that I want to try…

Ah, well. It was pretty fun, at least to write. Be sure to tell me what you think of it, whether it was too long, boring, etc… It was really just a "novelisation" of the key Cyborg episodes, told from the team leader's point of view. Nothing mind-blowing there…

Never mind, it was the beginning of a revolution! Everyone, get writing Cy-fics!

Um… I've updated _Small Print_ (co-written with Narroch06) and _Asylum_, so…

_Meh_…

Guess the ride's over.

LONG LIVE CYBORG!


End file.
